


sweet talkin' woman

by BloodRaven55



Category: RWBY
Genre: Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Canon Compliant, F/F, Fantastic Racism, Languages, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics, One Shot, Post-Volume 6 (RWBY), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, about the possibility of a faunus language, and basically this is the result of that with added bees lmao, and how it might work, but it's only alluded to, but there are fluffy bees so hopefully that's enough to keep people interested XD, but yeah i made a post on tumblr earlier, it's very nerdy cause I'm a legit linguistics major lol, there's nothing graphic or extreme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 04:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21048143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodRaven55/pseuds/BloodRaven55
Summary: “Can you read the sentence to me?” Yang asked, suddenly and inexplicably eager to hear what Blake sounded like in her native tongue.“Sure,” Blake said, and when she continued speaking it was nearly like a different person was talking. She started gesturing with her hands to emphasise each word, her face became so much more expressive, the musical intonation of the language made her voice even more captivating— Yang was caught off guard by how intimate it felt.





	sweet talkin' woman

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little rough cause I wrote it pretty quickly but hopefully the combination of linguistics and the Bees being grossly in love is satisfactory anyway :P
> 
> Before you read, here are a couple of notes on terminology:
> 
> — _Serma_: The name I gave the native language of Vale and the common language of most of Remnant. The word _Serma_ is adapted from _sermo_, a Latin word meaning _conversation_.
> 
> — _Pag-Uusap_: The name I gave the native language of the Faunus (or at least the population of Faunus which Blake belongs to). The word _pag-uusap_ is from Filipino and it also means _conversation_. (Yes, I am so original, I know XD)
> 
> With that covered... enjoy!

Yang finished pulling on her tank top as she stepped out of the bathroom, heading for the bed to sit next to her partner. Blake had already claimed her preferred side of the double bed—which it seemed was the only type of room available anywhere in Atlas right now—and so Yang settled against the headboard and grabbed her Scroll, leaving several inches between them to give Blake some space.

After a few rounds the game she was playing stopped holding her interest, though, and she glanced over to see what Blake was reading. She did a double take when she realised that she didn’t recognise any of the words, wondering for the briefest instant if she’d somehow sustained a head injury and forgotten how to read. But that theory was quickly dismissed as she concluded that it was far more likely to simply be a language she didn’t know.

“That book isn’t in Serma,” she commented, causing Blake to look up at her curiously. “Do you mind if I ask what language it is?”

She’d definitely never seen it before in her life, she thought as she studied the pages more carefully. She hadn’t even known that Blake could speak any other languages apart from Serma, the native tongue of Vale and the common tongue of Remnant— the one that the majority of the population spoke at least a little of in order to help facilitate communication and trade between the Kingdoms.

“It’s one of the native languages of the Faunus,” Blake answered slowly, like she was still a little confused as to the purpose of the question. “I think it probably has a different name to humans, but we call it Pag-Uusap.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t even know about it,” Yang said, and Blake let out a sigh.

“That’s because when the humans packed us off onto Menagerie in an attempt to keep us quiet, they also suppressed most of our culture from spreading outside of our own people. Think about it, Yang. How many languages did you hear at Beacon?”

Yang picked over her memory, trying to discern the number of different tongues that had been spoken. Serma, of course. She remembered Sun occasionally slipping into the Vacuan dialect when he was annoyed, as well as Weiss and Nora of all people discussing something in the language of the Atlesians, albeit very distinct-sounding variations of it. Several others sprang to mind, and she began to see what Blake was getting at.

“At least eight. But I can’t think of any ones belonging to the Faunus.”

Blake looked back down at the book in her hand, her expression almost sad. “Exactly. Even around our friends, Velvet and I would never truly use our own words, and I know it was the same for all of the other Faunus students. If I’d spoken my mother tongue at Beacon, Cardin and his thugs or any one of the countless others like him would have demanded I switch back and 'stop making those disgusting animal noises.’ So I had to content myself with the small stash of books that I was able to find in the Beacon library instead just so I wouldn’t forget the language I grew up with.”

Yang wasn’t sure what Blake saw on her features, but whatever it was clearly wasn’t encouraging, because her partner trailed off. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rant. I guess it’s been a long time since I've been able to talk about it and it all just came spilling out.”

Yang shifted a little closer, holding out her hand. “Can I look?”

Blake still looked a little doubtful, but she handed over the book, and Yang studied the text keenly. The writing looked more like symbols than words, far more intricate and artistic than any other language she’d seen. There was no common point of reference to help her decipher any of it, though, and she soon realised that she would get nowhere on her own. She shuffled across, closing the remaining distance between them so that she could hold the book where they could both see it. After a moment’s hesitation she rested her arm lightly around Blake’s shoulders as well, taking the way her partner relaxed into her side as permission to leave it there.

“What does this mean?” she asked, pointing to the first symbol on the page.

“_Gold_,” Blake answered, but she took Yang’s wrist gently and guided her finger to point to the opposite end of the line. “But you read from right to left, so this is the start of the sentence.”

“Can you read the sentence to me?” Yang asked, suddenly and inexplicably eager to hear what Blake sounded like in her native tongue.

“Sure,” Blake said, and when she continued speaking it was nearly like a different person was talking. She started gesturing with her hands to emphasise each word, her face became so much more expressive, the musical intonation of the language made her voice even more captivating— Yang was caught off guard by how intimate it felt.

She looked back to the book, trying to match the sounds to the symbols. “And what does it mean?”

“‘The necklace was beautiful, ornate and crafted from the finest gold.’” She led Yang’s finger along the sentence symbol by symbol, explaining how they fit together to form the whole. Yang was fascinated, and it occurred to her that she was probably the first human Blake had ever spoken her language to— ever shared this knowledge with. It was an overwhelming thought, and her eyes stung with the happiest of tears to think that her partner trusted her _this much_.

Blake was showing her something that was a fundamental part of who she was—comfortable enough that she didn’t think Yang would reject it or dismiss it—and Yang refused to treat such an important gesture as anything less than the honour it was. So she soaked in every word, paying rapt attention as Blake helped her through the rest of the paragraph.

“If you don’t mind—_only_ if you don’t mind—could you say something else for me?”

Blake’s lips curled up into a faintly amused smile. “What would you like to hear?”

“Anything,” Yang said in complete honesty. Blake could have listed off types of fruit and she would just have been happy to listen to her.

“Okay then.” Blake was silent for several long seconds, clearly unsure of what to say, and Yang was about to tell her not to worry about it. But then her partner’s voice shifted deep and lilting again, and Blake made eye contact as she spoke. At the end Yang caught her own name, recognisable even when spoken with an accent, and she could feel that Blake had just told her something meaningful even without knowing what the words meant.

There was silence for a beat, and she couldn’t stand it any longer. “What did you say?” she asked, quiet and awed as if part of her could sense the answer already.

Blake held her gaze, her throat bobbing as she swallowed hard. “I love you, Yang.”

Yang felt her cheeks flush with heat, her brain ceasing to function as she processed what she’d just heard. “W-What?”

“That’s what I said,” Blake clarified. “‘I love you, Yang.’”

“Do you—” Yang’s voice came out smaller than she intended, but she couldn’t help the surge of vulnerability. “Do you mean it?”

Blake’s hands cupped her face, her thumb brushing over Yang’s lips so softly, and then she leaned in and pressed their mouths together for the briefest of moments, a hint of a kiss to leave no room for misunderstanding. She pulled away before Yang could kiss her back, but perhaps that was for the best since Yang wasn’t even sure she remembered how to move right then.

“Teach me to say it,” was the first thing that came out when she regained the power of speech. “Please. If it’s okay. I want to be able to say it back.”

“You’re sure?” Blake asked, a trace of uncertainty creeping back into her voice. “You really want to know?”

“Hell yeah,” Yang said, taking Blake’s hand and weaving their fingers together. “Speaking of, after you’ve taught me that you can teach me some swear words. I need to be able to curse without Ruby knowing.”

Blake laughed, a warm and far too rare sound of amusement that proved contagious as Yang started laughing too. She probably butchered the pronunciation when she first tried to repeat back the words for ‘I love you’ a few minutes later, but Blake didn’t seem to mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp hope that was good. If you have any questions about anything to do with the linguistic side of things then just ask, or if you're just curious in general because it's kind of one of my only specialised areas of knowledge lol.
> 
> Anyway thank you for reading, all comments except for non-constructive criticism are welcome as always, and I'll see you all next time!


End file.
